Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I guess thats what I got my family for behind bars


It's so cute when Right-wingers try to think using actual logic and, you know, thoughts. It's even cuter when the agenda goes in search of a target. Columnist Steven Greenhut writes about allegedly corrupt OC Sheriff Mike Carona:
Carona "has been named in a wide-ranging corruption indictment … that accuses him and several close associates of scheming to exploit Carona's position for personal benefit, including accepting cash and appointing to the position of assistant sheriff an unqualified businessman who paid bribes." Carona also is charged "with witness tampering, including his attempt to convince [businessman Don]Haidl, as recently as August, to lie to a federal grand jury." Also named in the indictment were Carona's wife, Deborah Carona, and a woman the indictment describes as his "longtime mistress," attorney Debra Hoffman.

. . . What surprises me, however, is that many supporters really still believe that Carona is a decent, honorable guardian of the public trust. They don't say, "He's a bum, but he's our bum." No, they are completely taken in by him.

Sounds like a bad dude. Allegations, of course, are not convictions, so one might be circumspect in pronouncing Carona guilty just yet.

But then, like a Zombie Meme™ that won't go away, Greenhust segues to:
Carona is the Bill Clinton of local politics. Even Clinton's foes reportedly came away from personal meetings with him convinced of his basic decency and sincerity. Bill would look them in the eyes and was so convincing. I've met with Carona a few times, and he is exactly the same way. Most of us have known sociopaths who behave despicably but have an aw-shucks charm that suckers even people who should know better.
Right. Right-wing meme #14A: Clinton is a sociopath. Or a serial philanderer. Or was personally responsible for killing Vince Foster who was going to expose Hillary as a lesbian, or because he was sleeping with her. Whatever.

Seriously, how childish. This descends into Jonah Goldberg territory, complete with Cheetoh crumbs. There are lots of people who exude an oily charm that others find compelling, Ted Bundy comes to mind. But there's nothing anywhere other than on Right-winger blogs and glibertarian newspapers to indicate that Clinton is really a sociopath. And while there are many things liberals and progressives can fault him for, the sociopath tag has really become a Right-wing tic, a Pavlovian conditioned response to haering the name Bill Clinton.

Silly, shallow, deluded, cheap people.

More on Carona here.

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